The Reclaimed Kingdom

Not far along the road back to Baytown, the party encountered a basilisk chained to a post beside the road. Rusty and Aramil turned to stone immediately. Raphael and Mala engaged the beast while Ridgerider shielded his eyes as he summoned creatures to fight for him. After dealing some good hits, Raphael succumbed to the stone gaze as well. Mala was able to finish the basilisk off herself. After the battle, her and Ridgerider went through the assorted carts left in the road with stony horses and passengers, looting items of value, then loaded up their statue companions and continued down the road. Later they met up with a pair of water mephits, but were able to easily defeat them. Once back in town, they searched for a cure to their friends condition. They found 1 rare salve and traded goods for it. Hoping Aramil had some magic to cure the others, they revived him first. Unfortunely his dispel magic had no effect. The decided to set sail and restore them upon reaching Atlium. After a day of sailing, they spotted someone swimming way offshore. Upon investigating, they met up once again with Korvic the monk. He was able to channel his divine energies and revive Raphael, who reclaimed leadership of the boat for the rest of the journey. The party stops in Oldbridge, where the crew was eager to visit family, and Aramil found a scroll for Ridgerider to restore Rusty back to flesh.

The party caught up with the barrel by the coast. A large force of hobgoblins with hill giants and skeletons were pulling it via cart into a cave. They were able to fight off a large number of hobgoblins, but the enemy succeeded in holding them off long enough to load the large barrel onto a ship waiting in the cave below, and sail east.

The group starts to head back discouraged, but now have lots of new information about their enemy in this struggle.

From a tragic Dragon Day

Dragon Day

It was Dragon Day once again. Celebrating the 20th year since the vile Morgash was driven away from the kingdom by our current heads of state. People from all over Amana and elsewhere gather in the capitol city Atlium for the largest holiday yet. Security was tighter than ever outside the militant cities walls, but inside, the festivities were in full swing. Magic shows, jousting, archery contests, and lots of food and drink to go around. The main event was a parade, which was to be followed by a speech by Lord Goldfire himself. But a sudden explosion rocked the parade. Guards quickly descended on the scene but could find no trace of any enemy. Various outsiders were held and questioned, but no suspects were found.

Later in the day, it was discovered the archives were broken into and several documents recovered from the old capitol of Inda were stolen! The explosion was a distraction to draw away its few guards. The archival staff had been behind in researching the documents but it was determined one of the scrolls stolen was a copy of the plans to an ancient weapon, the Magefire Cannon, capable of enormous devastation. Its pieces were known to have been scattered across the land. Goldfire knew this device must not be assembled ever again, so quickly hired a team of adventurers to seek out the original blueprints from the inventors tomb.

Mulesteeldoor

Goldfire’s team, consisting of Aramil Bloodstone, Crissidia Cross, Gannish, Raphael, and Rocky made it to the town of Springvale, on the edge of Crystal Lake, near the tomb. By morning, only Aramil and Raphael remained, the rest seemingly scared off by the tomb’s notorious reputation. They were able to recruit two new members in town, with promises of treasure. Ridge Rider and Rusty Shackleford joined the group and they all set off across the lake. The team was able to defeat the deadly traps and puzzles presented before them and made it out alive, with the blueprints they came for.
Upon returning to Atlium, they were rewarded by Goldfire and formed into a registered adventuring group, Mulesteeldoor.

Black Claw Kobolds

While resting back in the city while the plans to the cannon were being studied, a member of Raphael’s crew was abducted. Witnesses led the group to the sewer system and a small cave was found. The party entered the cave and discovered it was a lair of vicious kobolds. They bore an emblem of a black lizard claw, and despite being individually weaker than any member of the group, they were very devious, luring them into various deathtraps. It wasn’t enough to stop Mulesteeldoor, who tracked the hostage down deep into a cave with a putrid underground lake. Here they found Casey, and a juvenile black dragon named Skort. After an intense battle, the dragon was killed, and Casey along with the dragons stash of coins were recovered.

The search for the barrel

Goldfire‘s scholars have figured out where the hidden cannon pieces may be. Mulesteeldoor is sent to Linhill Tower in Marseta to recover the most important piece, the barrel. Other mercenary groups are sent out for the remaining pieces. The party decides to sail to Baytown on Raphael’s ship, then hires a guide to lead them thru the rocky hills to the tower, which currently serves as a training area for local militia.
The party arrives at the tower to find an evil aura surrounding the place, and a small population of skeletons. They are quickly dispatched and they discover something large and heavy seems to have been pushed off the top of the tower, then taken away via cart. A camp nearby with recently cut down trees reinforces the idea. The group sets off east following the trail. Along the way they are attacked from the air by a chimera and are assisted by Mala, wild elf ranger who was tracking the beast. They enlist her in the search for the barrel, in anticipation of the large fight that it sure to come…